A disgraced Guelph police officer who pleaded guilty to criminally assaulting a teenager handcuffed to a hospital bed in 2016 poses little risk to the public or fellow officers and should be allowed to return to work, a psychiatric specialist testified on Wednesday.
Dr. Jonathan Rootenberg’s comments came during a professional misconduct hearing for Const. Corey McArthur, who previously pleaded guilty to assault and is now charged under the Police Services Act regarding his performance of duties on the day of the incident.“The key here is he’s dealt with a lot of anger management issues,” Rootenberg told the hearing, headed by former York Regional Police deputy chief Terence Kelly, in regard to McArthur.
“To his benefit” the constable has participated in therapy for nearly six years to address post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed in 2016 as well as anger management, the doctor stated. “That bodes well for him and I think he’s gained insights.
“He’s improved significantly.”
However, in challenging that assessment, Guelph Police Service lawyer David Migicovsky pointed to a trio of judges who raised credibility issues with McArthur’s testimony in previous cases and referred to his behaviour as “overly aggressive” in those incidents.
Among those cases is Regina vs. McMullan which saw a private citizen’s charge of assault causing bodily harm brought against McArthur in 2012 that was later dropped. In his judgment of that case, Justice Gary Hearn referred to McArthur as an “apparently aggressive police officer” and challenged McArthur’s testimony about the nature of the arrest and injuries sustained by the suspect during it.
Migicovsky noted that during McArthur’s interview with Rootenberg earlier this year, following Kelly’s decision to enter Hearn’s ruling into evidence, the constable provided information about the incident Hearn took issue with and suggested he therefore lacks remorse for the part he played.
“It’s very possible he doesn’t want to put himself in a bad light,” Migicovsky said to Rootenberg.
In response, Rootenberg said, “It’s certainly possible.”
Migicovsky also sought to establish a pattern of aggressive behaviour that pre-dates McArthur’s PTSD diagnosis, including the McMullan case, as well as a 2008 incident that saw the constable plead guilty to different assault. He also brought up allegations of aggressiveness made during family court proceedings by McArthur’s former spouse and acknowledgement from his mother that she’d heard of such behaviour by her son.
“I still view him as a low risk,” Rootenberg told the hearing. “I certainly factored in the previous justice's findings.”
Rootenberg was the only person to testify on Wednesday, providing the final testimony of the hearing. Final submissions in the case are scheduled for June 16 and 17.
In 2016 McArthur, an 18-year veteran of Guelph Police Service, was recorded on security video assaulting a teenager handcuffed to bed at Guelph General Hospital.
He pleaded guilty to a criminal assault charge stemming from that attack and received a conditional discharge, three years of probation and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service.
At the onset of his professional misconduct hearing in 2020, McArthur pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct.
The hearing underway now will decide if he can continue his career as a police officer.
